23rd November, 2011

Well, we had great fun with the Tamil  youth group, who were here while Iain was away at the Assembly handing out  fundraising packs. (Have you got yours?) They sang lustily, made wonderful curries which they invited us to share, and had lots of fun & games. There was a serious side too, with talks from a guest speaker and one of the young people became a Christian. The leader asked if he could be baptised here, as it is their custom to baptise people as soon as possible. Hasty attempts were made to arrange it, almost foiled by poor mobile reception, and finally he was baptised in the church baptistry on Saturday morning. Pitlochry Baptist Pastor David shared their lunchtime curry in celebration.

The church has been keeping the Centre busy recently with some big occasions: yesterday was a Tearfund supper with Daudi, an inspired individual from Uganda, last Friday was a lunch club meal for about 40 with Caroline as a speaker who's been doing literacy work in Chad, before that there was the shoebox appeal evening when the church got together to eat and then pack the shoeboxes.

Our usual community groups  have continued to meet this month, with Highway (adults with learning difficulties) coming twice for craft evenings to make products to sell for Christmas. They're also preparing to make a programme for Heartland, our local radio station.

As November nears its end the weather is getting cold now but the Centre is nice and cosy when the heating's on - in fact someotimes we even have to turn it down, as the radiators get warmer quicker now & blast out heat much better than before. Now I whinge about the draught from the front door when I'm in the outer office, but that's going to be solved soon too as a new double glazed front door is going to be fitted in January. I recently wrote a post installation report on the boiler project and discovered when the figures were calculated that we're saving an incredible amount of energy compared with before (better insulation, a more efficient system and some energy is free solar energy - although not a huge amount this year with the overcast summer we've had), and the wood pellets are cheaper than gas was, so we're making substantial financial savings too.  This is really good news as we try to make sure the Centre is paying its way and a solid investment for people giving money to our 40th anniversary appeal.

We linked up recently with a group called ROCK UK who do fundraising adventure challenges, some just a physical challenge in amazing locations, others are linked with charity projects where you spend time helping children, communities or the environment abroad. Go to our fundraising page to find out more. Pitlochry is a great place for adventure challenges too. You know how you're always looking for something different to give young (or young at heart) adults for Christmas - something better than a mobile phone or new computer game, so how about giving a  fundraising adventure challenge in Pitlochry as a Christmas gift. See here for more.

27th October, 2011

The autumn colours have been wonderful inspite of a largely wet but warmer than ususal autumn. The Enchanted Forest is nearly finished and Perthshire Amber just about to start. There is also a wildlife festival this autumn with lots of fascinating guided walks (2 on funghi recently!) and help seeing the local birds and beasts. It's great living here. We don't need to travel to benefit from all these events. I really enjoyed this year's enchanted forest, in a different venue this time with the twist of being able to view the whole thing from a high viewpoint as well as walk through it. Actually Pitlochry's not that far from most places in Scotland (1h30 - 2h by car) and we're on the main London to Inverness train line and bus route, so it's easy to get here.You should come and visit.

We're feeling very international just now as a couple of weekends ago we had mostly African ladies from the 7th day Adventist church (the folks in the flat really loved their singing) and today a group from the Tamil (South India & Sri Lanka) church in Glasgow is arriving.

Last week I was at a fundraising training event. It was really good to meet professional fundraisers & see how committed they wre to their causes ranging from Historic Scotland to the Archie Foundation (sick kids). The main speaker used to work for the Aberlour Trust (Children with Autism) and had a wealth of knowledge and experience to share. Hopefully it will help the Centre as we fundraise for our 40th anniversary project and as we fundraise for our subsidy fund. We're very grateful to the Soutar Trust for their donation of £2000 for our subsidy fund this week, which will help many less able or less advantaged people to have a life-changing conference or holiday here.

23rd September, 2011

It's definitely getting colder now and some of the trees are beginning to turn, although scientists say it's a false autumn and the real one has yet to come... The Centre is cosy though, with the wood pellet boiler proving its worth as the temperature drops. We've just had our electricity and gas meters read, so it will be interesting to compare costs with last year when they come in. The other energy saving measure we have planned for this year is to get our single glazing double glazed. Plans are well underway and hopefully it will be done by the end of October. We recently introduced recycling bins in our public areas and they are proving a success, so the process of making the Centre a greener place is well underway.

For the past 2 weeks we've had Graham & Aggie staying with us. Aggie is in a wheelchair so for a 2 week holiday Iain has given them 2 rooms in the chalet (one to sleep and one for a living room) and a fridge, so it can serve as more of an apartment for them. We have a self-catering apartment upstairs, but Aggie can't manage the stairs and now needs disabled washing facilities, so upstairs is no longer suitable for them. This flexibility means that not only can we cater for Aggie's needs, but also effectively we have had 2 apartments being used throughout the 2 weeks as well as residential groups in at both weekends. During the week community groups continue to meet regularly with the new computer training classes already started. It's really good to see the place so well used.

I went to a funding clinic this week to think about how we can raise the money for all the alterations we are planning. While we wait for the results from a funding search they're doing for us, we are having a visit from disability access specialists to make sure we include as many features as we can to make the rennovations as accessible as possible by today's standards. It will be really good when the chalet is properly converted to a disabled self-catering apartment, but at least we're flexible enough at present to be able to offer a half-way measure while we wait.

5th September, 2011

September already. Just been to a wonderful baptism in the loch yesterday, where the sun shone brilliantly.  To see the pictures just go to www.pitlochrybaptistchurch.co.uk. Glynnis our secretary is away on holiday & we're missing her. B&B has stopped officially til the October holidays. Amaia returned safely to Bilbao and sends her love and all the students who have helped us over the summer have returned to school or university - some just starting uni this year, so it will be a great adventure for them. The lunch club visit went well and then we had a quiet week. This week it's ME sufferers. Helen, local therapeutic & sports massage is coming again this year to ease their sore muscles and Allan, a local enthusiast for Scottish clan history re-enactment, is coming to do a show and tell. We're really pleased to get this support from our local community, which helps tailor the ME week to their needs. The Highland games are on this weekend in Pitlochry and we have a young people's pipe band from Eire staying here for the competition. It's great to be part of what's going on in the community and this event is always a big day. My favourite part is when all the pipebands march down the main street together. Well worth seeing. We've got another council of management meeting this week. We're gearing up for a big splash of fundraising in October to be launched at the Baptist Assembly, and it's incredible how much organising needs to be done. We're raising money specifically for the structural improvements over the next few years - better accessibility to better serve - and will hopefully soon be ready to submit the plans for planning permission.

19th August, 2011

Hello again. Just to encourage you to take a look at our facebook site. Just click on the link to the left of this page. I've at last put up pictures of our open day. (I'm afraid the video didn't work out). So much has happened since then, it's hard to believe it was even this year... Coming towards the end of the summer, the schools are back and B&B will stop soon. We've had quite a few French people over the last week - the whole country goes on holiday in August, and some Germans and Italians as well. It was great to see a few of our B&B visitors getting a warm welcome at church on Sunday too, including a Japanese couple on honeymoon. Groups are already due to arrive. We have a lunch club for the elderly next week. It's great they get the chance to go away together and they're already booked for the Scottish night at the town hall - a firm favourite.

8th August, 2011

Woops - a whole month has gone by with no blog - sorry. So let's catch up... Amaia has arrived and is settled into Pitlochry. She's made friends with the young students who have joined us as housekeepers over the summer and has enjoyed chatting to (very surprised) Spanish guests when they came to stay. She also helped out when the People's Bible came to Pitlochry and is currently helping with the children's holiday club at the church. Nothing like getting stuck in!

B&B is in full swing and although it started out slow it has picked up nicely. We've actually had a couple of groups coming for B&B this year - a Korean school group and a hen party from Morningside Baptist Church. We also had a group from L'Arche - a charity for adults with learning difficulties. They really enjoyed their couple of days away and part of what made their holiday a success was the accessibility of the Centre accommodation and the welcome they received here. Last night a group of scouts staying at the scout hut popped in for showers as well and a family of one of their leaders stayed in the flat overnight. They were so pleased at the contrast between what we have here and the hard wooden floor and tiny kitchen of the scout hut.

As mentioned earlier the church next door is running their annual children's holiday club called "Rockstar". To see how it's going, go to www.pitlochrybaptistchurch.co.uk. For us it means the photocopier is in constant use, their IT man is busy putting their daily news sheet and video summary together in the reception lounge and some of our helpers are busy helping out next door as well.

At the same time the Atholl Craft Fair is on. They have an impressive array of pictures and crafts for sale, displayed in the dining room and on the reception walls, with a constant stream of visitors having a wee wander up and down the stalls.

Our latest news is that we have now registered with Paypal for email invoicing. This means that people now have the option of paying by card. You book by phone in the usual way, and if you prefer to pay by card the office will send you a Paypal invoice by email and you just click the pay button on the email. So simple! This should make paying deposits easier for a lot of people, and more accessible for those who have never heard of cheques!

24th June, 2011

Today we've just waved goodbye to the folks from Arbroath Town Mission. This is a group of elderly guests, one of them in a  wheelchair, others a bit unsteady on their feet, who are part of a church run lunch club in Arbroath. They come to the Centre every year for a wee break and enjoy the freedom of a half board service, which lets them get out every day on a trip or a wander, all accessible from the Centre (they bring their own minibus) and come back to a nice hot meal and a blether in the evening.

It's good to have a mid week residential group. Community groups can still run regardless, as they don't use the same space at the same time and it all works very well. We've had groups in for the last 3 weekends as well. One of them is an inner city church group who we support through our subsidy fund. They came on a self-catering basis and it was lovely to meet them on the Friday evening with the fantastic aroma of a good Glasgow curry wafting through, cooked by Bangladeshi group members who had arrived earlier to prepare their meal.  Makes you feel really international and at home at the same time. This was a family group, lively with children and babies. The weekend before it was a youth group. Our accommodation is flexible enough to suit everyone & they all seem happy with their stay.

Soon we will be starting B&B. We had hoped to have a Brazilian girl with us for that, but her visa wasn't going to be ready in time, so now we're starting out with some of our local students staying overnight to look after guests and then we have a Spanish girl called Amaia coming as a summer volunteer, who will live in. Revenue from B&B in the summer and the self catering flat helps us to subsidise community groups and groups with low income as we help people to grow and find release through conferences, workshops and holidays, so if you're thinking of a trip to the Highlands, why not come and stay here. You'll have a great time and you'll be helping others.

It may not be much of a summer so far, but it's still worth coming to Pitlochry. The Festival Theatre celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, still doing the stay 6 days and see 6 plays summer routine. It's also a really nice place to go for a coffee, and there's an art gallery there too. Locally made Stuart Tower ice cream has to be tasted to be believed, but the multitude of flavours is amazing. all made with milk straight off the farm. Local adventure firm Nae Limitz has just opened Scotland's first bungee jump over the river Garry - quite a sight - and I expect quite an experience if you're brave enough. The Watermill bookshop in Aberfeldy (20 mins away) has a range of books and music you would normally expect to see in a city, with an excellent children's section and lots of local lore and mountain guides. It too has a very upmarket art gallery and a pleasant cafe for a cappuccino or homemade cake.  And there are plenty of water sctivities to go on, whether it's canoeing or whitewater rafting, fishing or gorge walking, where you'll get wet anyway. So you may as well make the best of it and enjoy Scotland here this summer.